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Revive an 88 Trooper

36K views 104 replies 17 participants last post by  RickP 
#1 ·
This is a continuation of my intro post seen here http://www.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=85395

I picked up an 88 Trooper with a 4cyl. auto that had been sitting for a couple of years.

I picked the Trooper up today. It was fun loading it up by myself. I couldn't find my darn come along, so I used a chain hoist to get it on the dolly.
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I gave it a much needed bath.



I'll be installing the new engine at the shop at my work and getting in the shop was fun by myself, also. I used a winch we have on a cradle.


I'm picking up a wrecked one in the morning that the engine was just rebuilt a few thousand miles ago.
 
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#53 ·
Dang, I would have loved to have snatched that entire roof off that thing before you sent it to the crusher.

Got this idea about making a tilt up roof Trooper for camping.

That or use it on the stretched Trooper I'm gathering parts for.
That one is going to be a Crew Cab Trooper Pickup!

Oh well!

Moab is a fun place to play.
 
#54 ·
SSSRodeo said:
Dang, I would have loved to have snatched that entire roof off that thing before you sent it to the crusher.

Got this idea about making a tilt up roof Trooper for camping.

That or use it on the stretched Trooper I'm gathering parts for.
That one is going to be a Crew Cab Trooper Pickup!

Oh well!

Moab is a fun place to play.
It wouldn't have been cheap to get the roof from Alabama to Texas.
 
#55 ·
I worked on the fuel pump yesterday to try to figure out what the "running out of fuel" issue was. I cut a hole in the floor to make future fuel pump work easier. The pump that was in it, was installed shortly before the Trooper was taken apart a couple years ago and I didn't see anything obvious that was wrong. I installed the pump from the donor Trooper. Just the pump. I used the same, bracket, hose and sock to just eliminate the pump. I took it for a long drive out to the interstate where there are a bunch of long inclines and it performed flawlessly down to a 1/4 tank. So I guess the pump was the culprit.
 
#56 ·
I need to cut that hole in mine too.
 
#57 ·
The a/c fuse kept blowing and it looked like a bad coil in the clutch, so I installed a rebuilt compressor. I took everything out and flushed it. I've got nitrogen at work, so I used it. I got everything back together, but ran out of time to charge it since I had to go out of town for work.



Earlier, I said I would show a pic of the Explorer trans cooler I installed.



I'm in CO for work and found an 86 with a grille. $39 for grille, headlight mounts, side markers and a perfect coolant overflow bottle. Problem is I drove a truck out here, but will be flying home.
 
#58 ·
I finally got around to getting the A/C buttoned up. I ran into a problem discussed here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=87902&p=777039#p777039.

I recharged the system with R152a and it blows cold. It varies between 38-42 but is usually in the 40 degree range according to my cheap thermometer.
$11.xx for a 3 pack at Walmart.



(Yes the plastic spacer is about to slip off in this pic)
 
#59 ·
I was just reading this yesterday and was wondering where this was at. I am fighting with my AC also and have yet to get it going but I have a new compressor and hopefully this next Friday it will all come together. Did you end up walking away from the grill setup in Colorado? I got mine back on a week ago and I am loving it. My old headlight were all rusted up and watery, the round eyes actually work better due to the poor condition of the stocks.
 
#61 ·
if you see another round eye setup Il take it if you can package it ill pay for it and mailing up here to canada
 
#62 ·
PPCLI-JIM said:
if you see another round eye setup Il take it if you can package it ill pay for it and mailing up here to canada
I'll keep an eye out, but In think I just got lucky. Whenever I travel for work, I stalk the local Craigslist and check the inventory of local U Pick type junkyards.
 
#63 ·
RickP said:
I worked on the fuel pump yesterday to try to figure out what the "running out of fuel" issue was.
Rick, we have had the same issue in son's ''88 Trooper 4ZE1 for many months. Figured change-out would be the solution, but in the interim just kept filling fuel when the gauge shows 1/2 tank. Thanks for posting your similar/near identical case. Oh, and we, too, have cut the floor hole for access!
 
#65 ·
The Trooper has gotten much attention in the past few months. I've been driving it though and it has performed flawlessly. I bout a couple cabins on 23.66 acres back in September and they have been getting all of my time and money. Another one of my purchases I stumbled upon on Craigslist and had to have. :) I couldn't pass up the price of $85k. They do need some work though. The larger one was about 75% done and the smaller one just has rough framing on the inside. So far I have finished the kitchen and one of the bedrooms. I plan on moving there soon, but I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do for work, since because of the distance, I'll need to find a new job. It's Got a nice little creek running through it, also.






Anyways, back to the Trooper. I finally got around to installing the round headlight grille. It was fairly straight forward. I sprayed the grille with 3 coats of SEM Trim Black. The headlight trim rings were already gone when I grabbed it at the junkyard. I found a pair of trim rings from a 70's Dodge Pickup where the mounting tabs lined up on the headlight bucket, but didn't line up with the holes. Also, I had to bend the tabs so that the trim rings would fit tight. In another thread, Suzuki Samurai trim rings are said to work, but they were over $40 shipped and I only paid $1 for the pair of Dodge rings, I drilled and tapped new holes and they fit great.


I didn't want to do much if any cutting of the harness. I bought 9007 to H4 adapter, because they were cheap on Amazon and I just had to swap the ground and low beam wire in the connector. 9004 to H4 adapters are available, but harder to find. I wanted to install some Cibie's, but don't have the funds right now, so I bought some GE Nighthawk sealed beams.



I just scraped some of the insulation on the wires and spliced and soldered in the "new" connectors for the turn signals and marker lights. I installed new 1156, 89 and 194 bulbs.


 
#66 ·
Im a ex army - navy guy that did wood working as part of my job and i can say thats nice looking wood work !
 
#68 ·
Wow that is some nice work, I also have a history in woodworking a few decades back. We did custom cabinets, specialized in oak. Did many remodels. What a find on the cabins! It sucks you need to find a new job but it will work out somehow. Oh yeah, the Trooper looks great! I have done it on several of mine. Moab this year?
 
#69 ·
hessmess said:
It sucks you need to find a new job but it will work out somehow. Oh yeah, the Trooper looks great! I have done it on several of mine. Moab this year?
Thanks, I'm not a huge fan of my job anyways. I quit it once a couple years ago and 4 months later they asked me to come back for a temporary job and I'm still here. Not sure about Moab. I'm not much of a planner. If I decide to do something, it's usually at the last minute.
 
#70 ·
I was all set to go to Moab this year, but my wife ended up in the hospital this last week, so that will put a damper on it. We had a trip all planned and paid for to go to Orlando in March, still planning on that one but I won't say Moab is out yet.
 
#71 ·
I've been driving my Trooper daily since my Festiva needs a new inner tie rod installed and I haven't found the desire to do it, yet. Yesterday I changed out the shackle bushings. The ones that were in it were shot. Today I started to install some of the onboard air stuff. I installed a manifold in the engine compartment that houses a pressure gauge, 130 0ff/100 on switch, 150 psi pressure relief valve and a check valve. I have two Sanden compressors in my parts stash, but I think I'm going to try to locate a York and mount it where the smog pump used to reside. I noticed a compressor sitting outside at the plumbing shop next to my work and I was informed the motor was bad and it was in his scrap pile. I asked how much he wanted and he said free. I have an almost identical one that had a bad unloader switch and was able to use it to fix mine. I then cut off tubing around it and it will eventually get mounted to the underside of the Trooper. Thanks to Dave (outofyourshell) for the idea. It will probably be a month or two before I get to the compressor.

Besides the basic fittings, here are the parts I've used so far:
Interstate Pneumatics FPM44SR manifold purchased on Ebay
Kleinn 2130 pressure switch https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EV ... UTF8&psc=1
150 PSI pressure relief valve http://www.compressor-source.com/1_4_Ma ... -4-150.htm
3/8" NPT inline check vavle http://www.compressor-source.com/Air_Co ... l3838u.htm




 
#72 ·
I got a bunch of pieces saved up for mine also but have not done anything about installing. Dave also gave me the idea and I took some pictures of his setup when I saw him a few years back. I will be watching to see how this goes.
 
#73 ·
hessmess said:
I got a bunch of pieces saved up for mine also but have not done anything about installing. Dave also gave me the idea and I took some pictures of his setup when I saw him a few years back. I will be watching to see how this goes.
I've had some of these parts for 3 years. I was originally going to install them on my AMC Eagle I used to own, but never got around to it.
 
#74 ·
I got around to installing the tanks and ran a line to the front and to the back. Since I do garage doors on the side once in a blue moon, I have a bunch of perforated angle iron, so that's why I used it. It worked out pretty good.




I considered installing the rear fitting behind the fuel door, but I didn't want to drill into the body, so I installed it on the rear bumper. The front valance would have been a good location for the front fitting, but once again, I couldn't bring myself to drilling a hole in the perfect sheet metal. Both my bumpers are in bad shape and I'm eventually going to build new ones, so I had no problem drilling holes in them. I used 2 1/4" NPT bulkhead fittings. I got them at Fleet Pride and they call them frame nipples.



 
#75 ·
Your real estate purchase is great looking. Looks very rural and scenic. where is it? And what luck finding the round eye grill. I've been looking for one for all most 2 years. We haven't had an 84-86 in the scrap yards here in a while.
 
#76 ·
itsmehb said:
Your real estate purchase is great looking. Looks very rural and scenic. where is it? And what luck finding the round eye grill. I've been looking for one for all most 2 years. We haven't had an 84-86 in the scrap yards here in a while.
Thanks, the property is in Manchester, TN. I hate to say it, but I found another round eye grille setup when I was in Colorado last week. I decided to keep it for a spare since they are hard to come by and we have a lot of big critters who jump out in front of you around here.
 
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